Police Scotland is under scrutiny from the His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) due to a rise in violent crime. The review will assess whether Police Scotland adequately addresses repeat offenders and victims, as well as evaluates their strategies for reducing violence. In the past year, non-sexual violent crimes increased by 7%, with overall recorded crimes rising to nearly half a million in the year ending June 2026, marking a four-year high. The HMICS review aims to ensure Police Scotland has effective frameworks and policies to combat increasing violent crime trends.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Police Scotland is under scrutiny by HMICS, the watchdog agency responsible for overseeing police operations in Scotland, following a rise in violent crime. The HMICS review, set to be published next spring, aims to assess whether Police Scotland has the right strategies and policies in place to address violent offending effectively. If significant issues are found, HMICS may conduct further inspections of specific areas of violence.
Violent crime surged in Scotland, with one recorded offense occurring nearly every minute over the past year. Non-sexual violent crime increased by 7 percent, from 71,915 to 77,005, reaching its highest level in four years. HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland Craig Naylor emphasized that violence remains a priority for Police Scotland but noted that the trends vary across different areas.
The review will examine whether Police Scotland’s initiatives adequately address repeat perpetrators and victims and if there are effective early intervention methods and partnerships to curb violence.
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Police Scotland is facing a watchdog investigation into its response to tackling the rise in violent crime.
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Scotland → face → crime
A review by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) will look at policing of violent offending.
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review → look → offending
If it uncovers ‘significant issues’, it may carry out a further inspection of ‘one or more areas of violence’.
uncertain
it → uncover → violence
Overall, one crime was recorded nearly every minute as offending surged to its highest level in four years.
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offending → record → years
Non-sexual violent crime rose by 7 per cent, from 71,915 to 77,005, in the past year.
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crime → rise → year
HMICS’s review will look at whether Police Scotland’s work on violence ‘addresses repeat perpetrators and repeat victims’.
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work → look → perpetrators
It will also consider if ‘effective early intervention and partnership approaches are in place to reduce violence’.
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approaches → consider → violence
HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland Craig Naylor said: ‘Violence affects all sections of society and has long been an operational priority for Police Scotland.
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Violence → say → Scotland
‘Current evidence shows a complex and changing picture of violence.
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evidence → show → violence
While overall levels remain below historical peaks, trends vary, and there have been recorded increases in several areas in recent years generating significant public and political concern.’
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trends → remain → concern
The HMICS review, set to be published next spring, will ‘provide assurance on whether Police Scotland has the right overarching framework, strategies and policies to respond effectively to violence’.
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Scotland → set → violence
Police figures show incidents of rape, violence and shoplifting rose sharply while murders and culpable homicides soared by 40 per cent
Mr Naylor added: ‘If significant issues are identified in the course of this strategic review, we may subsequently undertake more directed scrutiny such as through thematic inspection of one or more areas of violence.’
Police recorded 513,866 crimes in the year to June 2026, up from 487,674 in the previous 12-month period – the highest figure from statistics provided by the Scottish Government dating back to 2022.
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Police → show → 2022
Incidents of rape, violence and shoplifting rose sharply while murders and culpable homicides soared by 40 per cent.
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murders → rise → cent
Crimes recorded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act increased by 19 per cent, from 2,742 to 3,264, and fraud rose by 7 per cent, from 15,121 to 16,183.
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fraud → record → 16,183
Figures include 190,335 more minor ‘offences’ such as threatening and abusive behaviour.
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Figures → include → behaviour
The rest are labelled ‘crimes’ and include murder and rape.
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rest → label → murder
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Stephen Kerr said: ‘This review is welcome at a time when violent crime is on the rise, in particular against women and girls.
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crime → say → women
However, we cannot have another review which is published then immediately forgotten about.
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which → have → review
It is vital recommendations are acted upon.’
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recommendations → act → ?
Assistant Chief Constable Wendy Middleton said: ‘We welcome the review by HMICs to ensure we are doing everything we can to address the harmful effects of these crimes.
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we → say → crimes
‘But Police Scotland cannot tackle this alone, and we are committed to working in partnership with other organisations.’
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we → tackle → organisations
The Aporia
